Full Description
Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing 2e is a practical, step-by-step guide to improving skills in analysis, critical thinking, and the effective communication of arguments and explanations. The book combines an accessible and straightforward style, with a strong foundation of knowledge. The text treats reasoning as an aspect of communication, not an abstract exercise in logic. The book not only provides detailed advice on how to practice better analytical skills, but also demonstrates how these skills can be used in research and writing. In particular, it emphases how to develop arguments that are coherent and that take account of their audience and context.
Contents
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION; PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION; HOW TO USE THIS BOOK; 1 SMART THINKING; 2 CLAIMS: THE KEY ELEMENTS OF REASONING; 3 LINKING: THE KEY PROCESS IN REASONING; 4 UNDERSTANDING THE LINKS BETWEEN CLAIMS; 5 MORE EFFECTIVE REASONING I: BETTER CLAIMS; 6 MORE EFFECTIVE REASONING II: BETTER LINKS; 7 WHAT KINDS OF REASONING ARE THERE?; 8 RESEARCH, REASONING, AND ANALYSIS; 9 PLANNING & CREATING YOUR REASONING; 10 BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER: NARRATIVE AND STRUCTURE; SUMMARY; ANSWERS, DISCUSSION AND FURTHER ADVICE; GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS; FURTHER READING; GUIDE TO IMPORTANT SKILLS
